Dir. Kurt Russell; 1993
Here is the translation of what Doc and Johnny Ringo are saying to one another in Latin:
Doc Holliday: In vino veritas. (In wine there is truth.) Johnny Ringo: Age quod agis. (Do what you do.) Doc Holliday: Credat Judaeus Apella, non ego. (Let Apella the Jew believe, not I. note: Romans used the phrase to show contempt for Judaism's belief that divine power was involved in everyday life. ) Johnny Ringo: Iuventus stultorum magister. (Youth is the teacher of fools.) Doc Holliday: In pace requiescat. (Rest in peace.) (source: IMDB; Dr. Kelley)
BUT … The Latin phrases spoken by Doc and Ringo have implied meaning beyond their literal translation. The conversation could be translated into vernacular English this way:
DOC: Drunk men tell the truth. RINGO: You better watch what you're doing. DOC: I'm not afraid of you. RINGO: (tapping his gun) Fools must learn through experience. DOC: Rest in peace. (source: IMDB; Dr. Kelley)
Although the gunfight at the O. K. Corral plays out more or less as it did in real life, the filmmakers made several small changes. In the actual incident it was Ike Clanton who ran through the corral to escape (in the film it is Barnes who runs out the back). The film instead shows Ike Clanton running into the photographer's studio while firing a few shots back at the Earps and Doc. In reality, it was Billy Claiborne who performed this action before escaping unscathed. (source: IMDB)
The line quoted by Doc at the end of the fight at the OK Corral is historically true and was reported in the Tombstone papers reporting the fight. When confronted by one of the Cowboys at point blank range, the Cowboy reportedly said, "I got you now Doc, you son of a bitch," to which Doc gleefully retorted, "You're a daisy if you do!" (source: IMDB)
Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp =
a retired peace officer from Dodge City who has come to Tombstone to start over
and make a fortune.
Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday = a Southern gentleman, gambler, and expert
gunslinger, who seeks relief from his tuberculosis in Arizona's drier
environment.
Sam Elliott as Virgil Earp =
Wyatt's older brother, who also has law enforcement experience.
Bill Paxton as Morgan Earp =
Wyatt's naive younger brother.
Powers Boothe as "Curly Bill" Brocious =
The leader of the outlaw Cowboys.; kills Marshal White.
Michael Biehn as Johnny Ringo = member of the Cowboys; sociopathic, educated
Jon Tenney as Sheriff Johnny Behan = corrupt lawman of Tombstone
Stephen Lang as Ike Clanton = member of the Cowboys
Dana Delany as Josephine Marcus = traveling actress
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson as Mattie Blaylock Earp = Wyatt's wife; addicted to
laudanum
Joanna Pacuła as Big Nose Kate = Doc's Hungarian girlfriend
Harry Carey, Jr. as Marshal Fred White = elderly lawman of Tombstone
1. Opening Titles/1879 [1:57]
2. The Cowboys [5:06]
3. Wyatt Earp [3:51]
4. A Peach of a Hand [3:08]
5. Welcome to Tombstone [3:07]
6. Going into Business [8:06]
7. Enchanted [5:51]
8. An Oak [4:25]
9. Johnny Ringo [5:04]
10. A Fortuitous Meeting [5:01]
11. Room Service [2:01]
12. Never a Dull Moment [6:11]
13. Law and Order [5:47]
14. Nobody's That Lucky [4:43]
15. Wyatt's Troubles [3:17]
16. A Good Woman? [1:11]
17. Peacemakers [:41]
18. Shoot-Out at the OK Corral [2:48]
19. "Murdered on the Streets of Tombstone" [6:07]
20. Stormy Night [3:48]
21. "Smells Like Someone Died" [10:02]
22. Reckoning [5:12]
23. Silver Springs Canyon [9:47]
24. "The Last Charge of Wyatt Earp and His Immortals" [9:43]
25. My Friend, Doc Holliday [1:36]
26. Wyatt and Josephine/Epilogue [:07]
27. End Credits [4:52]
THE WESTERN GENRE IN FILM
By Barbara L. Baker
University of Central Missouri
I. Genre Overview
A. Genres--widely recognized groups or categories of films
1. A "contract" between filmmaker & audience
2. Come from literary & artistic genres
3. Existed since start of filmmaking
4. Depend on audience familiarity with genre conventions
B. Filmmakers can accept or reject genre conventions; risk alienating audiences if reject
C. Common components of genres
1. Style–way subjects presented using common film techniques
a. Different genres have different styles
b. Styles also reflect specific filmmakers
c. Includes characteristic techniques
d. Defined by subject matter & setting
e. Includes emotional effects specific to the genre (i.e. horror films want to scare us, comedies to make us laugh, etc.).
2. Plot structure:
a. “Typical” characters per genre
b. Specific conflicts, depending on genre
3. Common iconography for each genre:
a. Symbols—Any verbal or visual image standing for something else.
b. Archetypes--Manifestations in image, dialogue or character of basic universal symbolic elements.
c. Motifs--Dominant recurring idea or image; symbolic patterns.
D. Evolution of genres/Genre stages
1. Experimental or Primitive
a. Genres created
b. Conventions established
c. Most genres created by 1920s; some later (e.g. teenage films).
2. Classic
a. Conventions reach their apex
b. Social & ritualistic functions stressed
3. Revisionist/Refinement
a. Conventions revised, renewed, updated, altered, critiqued, etc.;
b. May include blends or hybrids
4. Parody
a. Pokes fun at one or more particular genres, using genre conventions
b. Intertextual & self-reflexive
c. Generally must understand the genre to fully understand the parody
II. The Meta-Genres of Order & Integration
A. The Genre of Order
1. More geared to male audiences.
2. Includes westerns, action films, science-fiction, crime/gangster films, etc.
3. Characteristics:
a. Individual (male) dominant
b. Individual is self-reliant
c. Stresses a macho code
d. Conflicts over contested space (e.g. turf wars); ideologically unstable
e. Externalized violence, usually leading to death (elimination)
f. Death leads to redemption (society & hero)
g. Ends with hope for a better future (utopian promise)
B. The Genre of Integration
1. More geared to female audiences.
2. Includes screwball & romantic comedies, musicals, melodramas, soap operas, etc.
3. Characteristics:
a. Female or couple dominant
b. Focuses on community cooperation
c. Stresses maternal-familial code
d. Occurs within civilized space (e.g. the home); ideologically stable
e. Stresses internalized emotions (esp. love & romance)
f. Conflicts resolved through integration & domestication (i.e. marriage)
g. Present-centered; practical resolution (utopia-as-reality)
II. The Western Genre
A. In the late 1940s to the late 1960s, the western genre proved to be a consistent money-making genre.
B. Plot structure
1. Westerns usually focus on the settling & taming of the West by civilized persons (often with the values of the east coast; often represented by women or feminizing influences).
a. Traditional, classic westerns were set in the historical western U.S.--usually in territories before they became states
b. Revisionist westerns update the setting both in time & place, maybe moving into other areas, such as Mexico-South America, Canada, & Australia, or setting the action in the 20th century, or in outer space, etc.
2. There is some type of threat to the civilized order (from nature, Native Americans, Mexicans, outlaws, "bad men," or others)
3. The threat is eliminated or contained; social order is restored (usually in a "shoot out" of some type between heroes & villains).
C. Iconography/recurring elements (not all of these are in every western, but at least some of them are):
1. Western terrain & the frontier, esp. wide open spaces, rugged mountains, buttes, rivers, cacti, panoramic skies, etc.
2. Wagon trains of people headed west along various trails for new opportunities (with a scene of circling the wagons)
3. "White hats/black hats" dichotomy (hero vs. villain or gunslinger vs. sheriff, etc.), esp. in classic westerns
4. Cowboys and cowboy culture (including cattle, horses, etc.): cattle drive, ranches, etc.
5. Native Americans & Indian culture (including villages, war parties, etc.)
6. Town vs. ranch dichotomy
7. Town with saloon, dance-hall girls (including the prostitute with heart of gold), card playing, heavy drinking, etc.; might also have a sheriff, etc.
8. Might also have the cavalry & a fort, etc.
D. Westerns depend on thematic oppositions which provide tension in the plot:
1. Progress vs. nostalgia
2. Civilization vs. wilderness
3. Violence vs. idealism
4. The individual vs. society
5. The male bond (including loyalty & fraternity) vs. the male ideal of isolation
6. Basically the conflicts and themes fit Genre of Order
E. Ideology of the classic post-war western
1. Classic westerns offered a world where right & wrong are clear
2. Often presented a racist view of Native Americans as evil Others
3. Anti-modern & hypermasculine—appealed to men who returned from WWII & struggled to adapt
4. While focused on right & wrong, with justice usually prevailing, the classic western hero often fails to conform to society & must leave at the end
5. A nostalgic escape to a more “masculine” time & place (an escape from dehumanizing, emasculating work)
6. The hero in classic westerns—often a strong, silent man—stood tall even as becoming irrelevant (civilization is inevitable, but rejected by the hero)
7. The emotions evoked are exhilaration & triumph in classic westerns, but much more cynicism & defeat in revisionist westerns (where the hero is not so heroic)